抄録
The effects of dietary supplementation of a depolymerised sodium alginate (AG-5) with an average molecular weight of 5×104, on human fecal flora and the intestinal environment were studied in healthy volunteers, each of whom consumed 4g of AG-5/day for 14 days. During the intake of AG-5, no detectable change occurred in the balance of flora, but the fecal pH and the amount of volatile basic nitrogen (VBN) in feces had a tendency to decrease. The amount of short chain fatty acid (SCFA) did not change. Single administrations of 7 and 10g AG-5 revealed a dose-dependent fecal VBN decrease. A single administration of 7g of AG-5 in 8 healthy volunteers resulted in an increase in the ratio of Bifidobacterium to total bacteria and a decrease in the number of Bacteroidaceae. The fecal VBN and pH value decreased, but the amount of SCFA did not change after the single administration of 7g of AG-5. These results suggested that the administration of AG-5 contributes to an improvement of the intestinal environment.
